My name is Paula. I moved to Charleston from Savannah, Georgia in 2010. Originally, I came only to visit my daughter and help out with my grandsons over the summer while I finished my master's degree. However, I was offered the job of Media Specialist at Dunston Elementary School in August of 2010 and here I am. Currently I am the Teacher Librarian at Lincoln Middle High School in McClellanville. This is my second year at Lincoln.
Teaching was not my first profession. Originally I attended Furman University with a major in theater and scenic design. Theater does not pay when you are married with two children, so at the age of 30 I returned to school at the Savannah College of Art and Design where I turned the major in scenic design into a major in Interior Design. I worked as a draftsman and designer for over 20 years working on projects that ranged from roads to school construction to homes and remodeling. In construction there is no glass ceiling for women - it is solid concrete, so once my children were grown and I no longer had to worry about feeding and clothing them (did I mention that I became a single parent at 35 when my tennis pro husband ran off with a blonde in a shorter tennis skirt?) I went back to school to get a Master of Education in Instructional Technology. I have always loved books, research and children. Mrs. Taylor, who was my hometown librarian, had a huge influence on my life. Becoming a librarian had always been in the back of my mind somewhere. While I was working on my Masters, I worked as a Media Clerk in the mornings, as the curator's assistant and an instructor at the Juliette Gordon Low Museum in the afternoon and as the nursery attendant at the Baptist church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.
Along the way, I also worked in a lot of other second and third jobs to make ends meet. For about a year, I worked 5 to 11 at Books-a-Million, but I had to quit because I was spending my salary before I left work. I did typing for estate evaluations and bookkeeping for an accountant and a lawyer. I helped a friend cater large parties, worked as a florist's assistant and ran the spotlight at The Savannah Theater. I think all of these strange and varied jobs have helped make me a better librarian - I know a little bit about a lot of stuff and have learned from a long list of mistakes.
Any free time I could squeeze in was spent on stage with either the Savannah Theater Company or City Lights Theater Company. Some favorite roles include Aldonza in Man of LaMancha, Roxie in Chicago, Joanne in Company, Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe and Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Theater and my theater friends are the some of the things I miss most about Savannah, but here in Charleston I do get to play with three of my four grandsons, Henry (6),Mark (4), and Ben (1)....book was one of Ben's first words!
Classroom reflection:
The more I work with digital storytelling, the more uses I can see for it. In the Media Center I can see using it to introduce the Media Center to new students. I can scan through each section, compare fiction to nonfiction and use photos of books to introduce the Dewey Decimal System. I could also use moviemaker to introduce new books to the student body with a photos and excerpts from the books. It can be used in a number of other classes from Research to a class in movie making itself. I used it in this project as a way to introduce and teach Literary Genres. It would also be a great alternative to the old outdated written book report. I can see a lot of the teachers I collaborate with using it in their classes for biographies, eras in history and more. I can also see it as a way to present programs at PTA meetings or any other school function.
Teaching was not my first profession. Originally I attended Furman University with a major in theater and scenic design. Theater does not pay when you are married with two children, so at the age of 30 I returned to school at the Savannah College of Art and Design where I turned the major in scenic design into a major in Interior Design. I worked as a draftsman and designer for over 20 years working on projects that ranged from roads to school construction to homes and remodeling. In construction there is no glass ceiling for women - it is solid concrete, so once my children were grown and I no longer had to worry about feeding and clothing them (did I mention that I became a single parent at 35 when my tennis pro husband ran off with a blonde in a shorter tennis skirt?) I went back to school to get a Master of Education in Instructional Technology. I have always loved books, research and children. Mrs. Taylor, who was my hometown librarian, had a huge influence on my life. Becoming a librarian had always been in the back of my mind somewhere. While I was working on my Masters, I worked as a Media Clerk in the mornings, as the curator's assistant and an instructor at the Juliette Gordon Low Museum in the afternoon and as the nursery attendant at the Baptist church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights.
Along the way, I also worked in a lot of other second and third jobs to make ends meet. For about a year, I worked 5 to 11 at Books-a-Million, but I had to quit because I was spending my salary before I left work. I did typing for estate evaluations and bookkeeping for an accountant and a lawyer. I helped a friend cater large parties, worked as a florist's assistant and ran the spotlight at The Savannah Theater. I think all of these strange and varied jobs have helped make me a better librarian - I know a little bit about a lot of stuff and have learned from a long list of mistakes.
Any free time I could squeeze in was spent on stage with either the Savannah Theater Company or City Lights Theater Company. Some favorite roles include Aldonza in Man of LaMancha, Roxie in Chicago, Joanne in Company, Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe and Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Theater and my theater friends are the some of the things I miss most about Savannah, but here in Charleston I do get to play with three of my four grandsons, Henry (6),Mark (4), and Ben (1)....book was one of Ben's first words!
Classroom reflection:
The more I work with digital storytelling, the more uses I can see for it. In the Media Center I can see using it to introduce the Media Center to new students. I can scan through each section, compare fiction to nonfiction and use photos of books to introduce the Dewey Decimal System. I could also use moviemaker to introduce new books to the student body with a photos and excerpts from the books. It can be used in a number of other classes from Research to a class in movie making itself. I used it in this project as a way to introduce and teach Literary Genres. It would also be a great alternative to the old outdated written book report. I can see a lot of the teachers I collaborate with using it in their classes for biographies, eras in history and more. I can also see it as a way to present programs at PTA meetings or any other school function.